it is called the violence against women act. for years, ever since it was passed, the violence against women act has been a bipartisan bill, routinely modernized without notification. until last year, republicans decided to stand up against the violence against women act. all eight senate republicans voted no on it when i came through committee. and when it came up for a vote in the senate, republicans voted against the by a 2-1 margin. and house republicans killed the bill altogether, that was the last congress, before inauguration. now it is the new congress. and now the issue is back, and democrats in the senate are fast-tracking it. senate republicans seem to just be prepared to let it quietly pass, but it does have to go through the house.

and so house republicans have to resolve this looming question, good thursday morning. a stand yofr of a deranged gunman holding a 5-year-old hostage is in the second day. temperatures warm and cold causing tornadoes and bizarre january storms. we'll tell you what's ahead today. president obama pushes hard on gun control and immigration reform and the passing of an american icon. and one of the biggest adrenaline rushes anywhere. very good morning. we start with a hostage standoff

in alabama involving a 5-year-old boy and a suspected killer. a police source close to the investigation described him as a 6 a-year-old jimmy lee dike. they are holed up in a tornado bunker. officials have been able to get merchandi medicine to the boy but they are not saying much more. this started tuesday. the man shot and killed the driver and took the young boy hostage. more details as they emerge. a storm system raked its way across the southeast wednesday and is now making its way north. two people lost their lives in georgia and tennessee. many lost their homes. tens of thousands were left without power. nbc's kurt gregory has more for us. >> reporter: wicked winds whipped through charlotte, north carolina, as rain drenched the queen city. part of a nasty storm system marching across the southeast on wednesday. that same system spawned a

massive funnel cloud in georgia leaving dozens of homes and businesses destroyed in its wake. 100 people were at work when the twister took aim on this plant, thankfully all were safe. in tennessee, the national weather service confirm four tornadoes touched down. one man was killed by a falling tree. and in kentucky, two people were injured when another confirmed tornado blew a trailer off its foundation. we'll get the very latest on what's in store for today from bill karins much that's coming up in weather in a little bit. the debate over gun control is taking place across the country. yesterday it was heard from the nation's capital to nowtown, connecticut, the town that lost 6 lives 26 lives in a school shooting. they heard moving testimony from one of the parents of one of the victims. >> we lost our son benjamin the morning of december 14th to an

unstable, suicidal individual who had access to a weapon that has no place in a home. >> earlier in the day president obama met with former arizona congresswoman gabby giffords, a victim of gun violence herself. she was in town to lend her voice to a hearing on capitol hill, the first since the newtown mass car. kelly o'donnell has more. >> reporter: per gift of speech is a distance memory said her husband mark kelly, yet, gabby giffords halting words. >> too many children. >> reporter: here as a survivor of the tucson assassination attempt which left her partially blind and partially paralyzed. >> you must act, be bold, be courageous. >> reporter: they are both gun

owners and they want positive expand sales to make it harder for criminals and the mentally im to get weapons. >> my wife would not be sitting in this seat. she would not have been sitting here today if we had stronger background checks. of all the gun related ideas on the table, democrats believe universal background checks has the best chance politically. >> stop them from the original purchase. you missed that point completely. and i think it's basic. >> senator, i think you missed -- >> reporter: the nra says adding new laws would hit ordinary citizens, not criminals. >> that was kelly o'donnell. this is the year for immigration reform that, is president obama's hope. he laid out his platform and timetable. we know what's needed when it comes to border security. we know what's needed when it comes to dealing with employers who may unlawful hire undocumented workers. we know what a pathway to

citizenship looks like and what the criteria should be. and so really the issue here is not so much technical as it is political. i'd like to see if we can get it done sooner in the first half of the year if possible. >> r. and now to hope that remains in the search for a missing u.s. air force pilot off the coast of italy. lucas grunther and his f-16 is missing. his wife describes him as a self reliant outdoorsman and if anybody can survive something like this, lucas could. fog hampered the efforts but among the debris found so far, there is evidence he jekted. developing stories to keep an eye on for you, will he or won't he get the nod? hoping to become the next secretary of defense, former senator chuck hagel answers tough questions from the senate arms services committee. the white house is optimistic but not taking anything for granted and is preparing carefully. this afternoon, the senate decides whether to raise the debt ceiling for the next four months. in the bill, an interesting

provision that with holds member's pay if they fail to pass a budget by april 15th. president obama's popularity is on the rise. a "washington post" poll found his favorability rating at 60%. that's a three-year high. 37% had an unfavorable view. david visitor is dismissing a bipartisan proposal on immigration reform. and vitter went after florida senator marco rubio calling him amazingly naive to believe the plan would not amount to amnesty. lamar alexander of tennessee talked to chuck todd on "the daily rundown" about gun control and video games. take a listen. >> i think video games is a bigger problem than guns because video games affect people. but the first amendment limits what we can do about video games. the second amendment to the constitution limits what we can do about guns. senator john mccain appeared

at a breakfast in washington where he told a joke about himself and the low approval ratings of his colleagues. >> a guy ran up in the airport and say anybody tell you look like john mccain? i said, yeah. he says, doesn't it sometimes make you mad as hell? >> that's your morning dish of scrambles politics. we tern to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. good morning you to, bill. >> the last 48 hours have been a blur. so much cleanup to be done. now we're doing it in bitterly cold temperatures, too. the problem is all the way up through connecticut. look at these wind gusts. we just gusted to 52 miles per hour in hartford. 55 in bridgeport. that is enough to shake the house and wake a lot of people up. if you're driving at this hour, if you can, well, don't. wait another half hour. things will improve in connecticut. again, all of these really strong winds are now heading to boston. boston just clocked in. that is the highest i've seen in new england. 59 mile-per-hour wind gusts. we're going to have power

outages with the winds kicking through. it is starting to improve in new york. the front is beginning to move through at 35 at jfk. last hour you gusted to 50. again this is moving quickly. that is the saving grace. by 8:00 or 9:00 a.m., a lot of the heavy rain will be gone. it will get a lot colder as the day moves on. worst of it, the next three hours, connecticut, rhode island, massachusetts, southern new hampshire and then coastal areas of maine. then it will be improving. then the cold air moves in. look at the temperature today. only 28 for a high in pittsburgh. wind chills falling into the teens. it is bitterly cold today back in the midwest. we're at high of 1 today in minneapolis. the cold air through kansas city and st. louis. we had record highs days ago. the wind chills are dangerous this morning. not a misprint. this is rola, north dakota, at minus 49 wind chills in north dakota. schools are canceled in many areas up there, richard. it's too cold and too dangerous to be outside. >> thanks a lot, bill karins.

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israel launched an air strike in sear yachlt a targeted convoy with anti-aircraft weapons bound for lebanon. jay carney says the president is praying for the 15-year-old who was gunned down in chicago on tuesday. pend willton had just performed with her high school band at last week's presidential inauguration in washington. john kerry gave a sometimes emotional good-bye speech to his senate colleagues. >> standing here at this desk that once belong ed -- at this

desk that once belonged to president kennedy and to ted kennedy, i can't help but be reminded that even our nation's greatest leaders and all the rest of us are merely temporary workers. >> kerry will be sworn in friday as the next secretary of state. a shocking revelation in the girlfriend scandal involving notre dame football player manti te'o. after talking to the mastermind of this fraud, dr. phil mcgraw was on the "today" show. >> was this a romantic relationship with you? and he says, yes. i said you are then, therefore, guy? and he said, well, when you put it that way, yes. >> dr. phil says the hoaxter said he was not involved in this scheme. garrett mcnamara claims he

broke his own world record by surfing a 100 foot wave off the coast of portugal. amazingly, he came out with no injuries and experts are still working to confirm the size of that wave. looks big. the tug of war ben bulls and wears today on deck today. we have mastercard, dow chemical and ups. we'll see how facebook fares after income tumbled 79%. after the bell, equally come woud investors with bullish earnings and outlook. video game publisher and electronic arts ticked lower in late training due to a slum notary public sales of gaming con soles. investors soured on the release of two new blackberries on wednesday sending the stock spiralling after hours. research in motion announced its geding rid of the name and now changing it to blackberry. "time" is planning to lay

off 6% of its workforce. that's about 500 people. due to a post sandyhook surge in guns, walmart limited ammo sales to three boxes per day. he can qui fax gathered up the information of more than a third of u.s. workers and then sold some to debt collectors and other financial agencies. is twitter taking over the super bowl? this year half of the super bowl ads will include hash tags in the game time spots. that up is from a handful last year. and just one two years ago. how times have changed. and dolce will start selling perfume for babies. the alcohol-free fragrance for your little bundle have notes of citrus, honey, and melon because they can smell all that stuff. your sports headlines are straight ahead including most famous parents at this year's super bowl. we'll tell what you nasa was up to last night with this latest

launch. take a look at this controversial quilt displaying a lynching. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

i'm back with one of the big stories, the tough road ahead for chuck hagel, president obama's nominee for the next secretary of defense. joining us with insight, "washington post" reporter sean sullivan. hagel could face tough questions on afghanistan, troops, gays in the military and other issues.

what should we watch to see if he'll make it past this confirmation? >> he'll certainly face a grilling from republicans on capitol hill today on, you know, the issues you mentioned, israel is another issue. you know, look for the way that he answers questions from democrats. a lot of republicans are going to oppose his nomination. but senators chuck schumer said that he's in favor of hagel. so if that can clear the way for other democrats to get onboard, that might be enough for him to clear the senate. >> another issue that we're watching out of d.c., president obama saying there is "no doubt that immigration reform and gun bills will get passed this year." folks have to say has the political climate changed that much? >> it certainly has, especially on immigration. you know, when the republicans look at the election results of 2012, you know, obama carried over 7-10 hispanic voters.

the tide changed on that. you're seeing now, you know, senators michael rubio, senator john mccain, republicans are making an urgent plea to pass comprehensive reform, something that, you know, maybe even a year ago was seemed pretty unlikely or possible given the hard line stance that we saw republicans adopt in the 2012 presidential primary. so definitely a new urgency on part of the gop. >> the president seems to have good polling numbers. sean sullivan, thank you so much from "the washington post" today. here's a first look at news going on around america. nasa launching a satellite into orbit from florida. this new equipment will improve communication with the international space station and relay images captured about it hubble space telescope. a quilt displaying a photograph of a lynched african-american woman is generating strong emotions from visitors at an indianapolis library. >> i get people here all

different kinds of races and color and creed treating me bad because of stuff like this. >> i know it can be painful for some people. i know some people are angry. some people cry. >> the quilt is a part of a collection of piece that's will be displayed through february and march. controversials brewing after starter pistols during an emergency drill were fired in chicago. some students were alarmed by the exercise noent prepare teach aernz pupils from mass shootings. >> i don't think we need to have it normal to have simulated shootings in school. then it makes it more normal for society to accept these types of things. and high school students are defending their teacher as a racy twitter account led to suspension. she was put on administrative leave after they found her bear twitter page which shows half naked pictures about drug usage. they have designed t-shirts to show their support. to college basketball, number five duke got 35 points

from mason plumly and they hold on to a victory there. four days before super bowl 47, a little controversy, a san francisco 49ers cornerback was forced to apologize for saying that gay players would not be welcomed in the locker room. san francisco players got to practice on the field at the new new orleans super dome to get ready for sunday's game. the baltimore ravens also got their chance to get in some practice time, too. jackie and jack harbaugh, the parents of the two super bowl coaches talked to reporters about their sons facing each other. >> we're so excited for john and jim to be in this situation. but we're also really excited for the players and their families. >> the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat and on sunday night we're going to experience both of those, those great emotions. and our thoughts will be with the one that comes up a little short. >> the harbaughs say their sons coaching in the super bowl is part of a great journey their

family is on. on today's google front page today, you'll see the image of jackie robinson who broke the color barrier in major league baseball. today is the 40th anniversary of his death. the georgia nature woif have been 94 years old. now for another look at the weather, here's nbc me meteorologist. the bad news about what is happening in new england right now is it is moving out quickly. as we get through 8:00 to 9:00 a.m., the strongest of the rains and winds will be exiting. as far as the worst of it, the stuff that is moving through connecticut, i mean 60 mile-per-hour wind gusts, 50 mile-per-hour wind gusts, widespread through connecticutment we'll have downed trees and power outages. if we can make it through the next three to four hours, then we'll see an improvement. it will be very windy. temperatures will be dropping during the day. at leaf the heavy rain will be gone. talk about temperature change. it was near 60 to 70 degrees in pittsburgh, richard. today, high of 28 with snow

showers. changes are on the way. >> yeah, no doubt. bill karins, thank you so much. just ahead, what did tyler perry do to hurt oprah winfrey's back? plus, the staff at the san diego zoo had their hands full while this giant panda cub was given a thorough exam. vets checked out his eyes, ears and heart and lungs. he seemed tone joy the whole thing. (announcer) make mornings special, with fancy feast mornings gourmet cat food.

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advertising for this year's super bowl is more expensive than it's ever been. a 30 second spot. guess?

$4 million, exactly. some companies are trying to save money. they're having commercial that's aren't quite as long. check out this one for taco bell. >> taco bell. >> there you go. >> oprah's 59th birthday was more painful thanks to tyler perry. he sent her a flower arrangement so large she pulled her back just trying to lift that. now the biggest surprise here that oprah actually picks up those things. patty andrews, the last surviving member of the vocal group the andrews sisters dies at the age of 94. this trio was known for this hit here, "boogie woogie bugle boy." >> rihanna confirmed she is back with chris brown. they split in 2009 after he beat ree an yachlt she said it's different now. we don't have those types of arguments anymore. barbara streisand will be performing at the academy awards. no word on what she'll be singing yet. she'll be in good company. she'll have adelle a